Who are you without the noise?

The human experience is a funny thing. We walk around and make several connections with people. Always making small observations about everyone and everything. We form an opinion on why something is one way and why it would be better if it was made/expressed another way or, we appreciate it for how it is. (Rarely)

Then, there’s the way we view people and ourselves from the way we dress, to the way we talk. Wearing clothes is a form of expression. Some people, live by brand names while others prefer the sales section but before you can say all of that, you’ve introduced ourselves as soon as you walk through the door.

So you move into interactions, we all speak differently and it’s mostly affected by where we grow up. We also adjust our speech to who we’re with. At work, you may have the ‘customer service’ voice that makes you sound like you woke up on the sunny side of bed while with friends you might speak more freely throwing in slang every now and then, or the latest social media phrase (eg I cannot come and kill myself/this degree needs to get itself).

All of this is ‘normal’ and it’s not really new information. The ‘new’ thing is finding out how you interact with yourself once you’re in a space with no exterior explanations of who you are. what do you really know about yourself?

Can you describe yourself away from everything else?

Are you able to see through the noise? Are you practicing honest transparency?

Are you able to honestly say you can hear yourself and give an honest answer to who you are or what you’re currently feeling?

Some find it harder than others. To quiet the external noise. To listen to themselves or even be honest with what they’re feeling because we rely on our exterior representation so much. We rely on our connections/relationships to define what we’re good at and what we like to do. We do this because it’s easier. It easier to have a title and stick to it. It’s easier to not look inside and be honest because you might unravel. It’s easier to rely on what everyone else perceives because selling them a picture is better than being a mess.

But you’re only fooling yourself. There’s freedom in transparency. There’s more acceptance for others and self in transparency. There’s a happier person after the process. Practicing honest transparency allows you to delve deeper into who you are and what you’ve gone through or are going through.

Transparency also allows you to create a space for self that may have not been present before. Transparency allows you to look into you’re fear, doubt, sadness and trauma. Transparency gives you space to be you and not define it immediately.

It’s allows you to be transparent with others too and that only betters relationships.

Honest transparency is only a piece of the puzzle but it’s a great starting point.